


Beautiful

by eLJay



Category: My Mad Fat Diary
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-10
Updated: 2013-04-10
Packaged: 2017-12-08 02:43:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/756055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eLJay/pseuds/eLJay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rae gets ready for the rave.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beautiful

**Author's Note:**

> Prompted by ookingforsure on Tumblr.

Rae was never one to put much forethought into her clothes, but she was glad she’d thought about what she might wear to the rave beforehand (because when she daydreamed about dancing in Finn’s arms, it was important to be wearing the perfect outfit).  Knowing what she wanted to wear made it easier to grab the right things when she stormed out of the house in a proper strop.

But she hadn’t really thought about changing at Finn’s house.  And when she found herself in the bathroom, stripping off her shirt, the realisation that only a bit of wood and plaster separated her, half-naked, from him in a similar state made her pause, heart beating faster.  She shared a sly smile with the girl in the mirror before shaking her head and pulling the dress on.

It’d taken shockingly little for him to convince her to go.  Maybe she should’ve made him work harder.  That sounded like the kind of thing Chloe and all the magazines would suggest: play hard to get.  Don’t give in too soon.  Make him think you don’t care.  Come to think of it, that sounded like the kind of thing Danny would suggest, which meant it had to be bollocks.  Finn wanted her to go, and he’d been more than happy to say that Chloe could go in the car if only Rae would ride the scooter with him.  When she’d heard that, and seen the eager look on his face, how could she possibly have said no?

She took one long last look in the mirror.  She’d have to wait til later to fix her hair, since she’d need to leave it down to get the helmet on, but she ran her hands through it nonetheless, trying to calm herself.  The dress looked nice—fine.  She wasn’t going to win any prizes, but it was a good colour and comfortable, and the gold jacket would give her a bit of flash.  There wasn’t much else she could hope for; there was no helping her waist or her face or anything else.  She had to be content with her own vague approval, because as long as she showed up wearing _some_ thing it wasn’t like anyone else was going to be bothered about her clothes.  So Rae squared her shoulders, looked herself in the eye, and, since no one else was going to do it for her, said very quietly, “It’s fuckin’ embarrassing how good I look.”  She gave herself a half-smile before turning toward the door.

He was tying his shoes when she walked in, and her eyes were immediately drawn to his white vest and bare arms, making her wish she’d put on her jacket before she came out.  Finn looked up at her and she could feel his gaze like a searchlight, eyes trailing over her trainers, leggings, the blue dress; she fought the urge to cover herself, hide from his notice.  She settled for smoothing the skirt with sweat-damp palms, not meeting his eyes.  After a moment he cleared his throat and looked down to finish knotting the laces of his trainer.  Then he stood, swiping his own hands over his jeans.

“You look, erm…”  He trailed off and Rae’s heart fell.  The only reason anyone had ever been at a loss to describe her appearance was because they weren’t sure which insult to use first; she didn’t think he’d insult her, so he must’ve been trying to come up with a kind lie.

“Ridiculous?” she suggested, rolling her eyes with false cheer.  Finn looked up sharply, and there again was that feeling of his gaze like a tangible thing.  The next self-effacing thing on her tongue died with his narrowed eyes.

But his voice was almost shy when he said, “I was goin’ to say beautiful.”

The breath stuck in her throat, and she had to swallow hard.  She knew that was a bald-faced lie, because she wasn’t beautiful; but she wanted to believe that he meant it, and maybe he even did.  Rae felt a blush beginning to creep into her cheeks, and she was surprised to see that he was blushing, too, and biting his lip.  She’d never minded being wrong as little as she did now.  “Yeah?”

He nodded.  Then he said, “We’d better get going,” and she followed him down the stairs and out to the waiting scooter.

As they rushed down the road, laughing, with wind flying through her fingers, she felt beautiful.  But even better than that, she felt happy, and she didn’t need anyone to tell her so.


End file.
